Data access based on content of image recorded by a mobile device

ABSTRACT

Embodiments of the invention are directed to using image data and contextual data to determine information about a scene, based on one or more previously obtained images. Contextual data, such location of image capture, can be used to determine previously obtained images related to the contextual data and other location-related information, such as billboard locations. With even low resolution devices, such as cell phone, image attributes, such as a histogram or optically recognized characters, can be compared between the previously obtained images and the newly captured image. Attributes matching within a predefined threshold indicate matching images. Information on the content of matching previously obtained images can be provided back to a user who captured the new image. User profile data can refine the content information. The content information can also be used as search terms for additional searching or other processing.

FIELD OF ART

The present invention is directed to accessing information based onimaging, and more particularly, to utilizing multiple images with asimilar context correlation element, such as a nearby location, todetermine information related to the content of an image.

BACKGROUND

It is difficult to get information into a mobile phone or into othermobile devices. Entering information typically involves typing on smallkeys to input a small set of words into a search window. This is evenmore difficult when typing special characters needed for uniformresource locators (URLs) and other special data. Rather than typing,some mobile devices enable a user to enter voice commands. However, thenumber and type of voice commands are usually very limited. It is alsodifficult for these mobile devices to interpret special characters fromvoice commands.

Further, users are often interested in information related to thingsthey see, which are difficult to describe into voice commands or audioinput. Many mobile devices now include a digital camera. Mobile deviceusers typically can capture an image, and download the image and/orcommunicate the image in a message to another computing device. Thesecameras are often cheaper than a keyboard, but also often have a lowresolution, such as three megapixels or less. These low resolutioncameras are usually not suitable for object recognition.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Non-limiting and non-exhaustive embodiments of the present invention aredescribed with reference to the following drawings. In the drawings,like reference numerals refer to like parts throughout the variousfigures unless otherwise specified.

For a better understanding of the present invention, reference will bemade to the following Detailed Description Of Embodiments, which is tobe read in association with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 illustrates a diagram of one embodiment of an exemplary system inwhich the invention may be practiced;

FIG. 2 shows a schematic diagram of one embodiment of an exemplarymobile device;

FIG. 3 illustrates a schematic diagram of one embodiment of an exemplarynetwork device;

FIG. 4 illustrates a flow chart of example overall logic for determiningand processing image-related information based on a captured image; and

FIG. 5 illustrates a flow chart of example logic for determining searchterms and results based on a captured image.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

The present invention now will be described more fully hereinafter withreference to the accompanying drawings, which form a part hereof, andwhich show, by way of illustration, specific exemplary embodiments bywhich the invention may be practiced. This invention may, however, beembodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limitedto the embodiments set forth herein; rather, these embodiments areprovided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and willfully convey the scope of the invention to those skilled in the art.Among other things, the present invention may be embodied as methods ordevices. Accordingly, the present invention may take the form of anentirely hardware embodiment, or an embodiment combining software andhardware aspects. The following detailed description is, therefore, notto be taken in a limiting sense.

Throughout the specification and claims, the following terms take themeanings explicitly associated herein, unless the context clearlydictates otherwise. The phrase “in one embodiment” as used herein doesnot necessarily refer to the same embodiment, though it may.Furthermore, the phrase “in another embodiment” as used herein does notnecessarily refer to a different embodiment, although it may. Thus, asdescribed below, various embodiments of the invention may be readilycombined, without departing from the scope or spirit of the invention.

In addition, as used herein, the term “or” is an inclusive “or”operator, and is equivalent to the term “and/or,” unless the contextclearly dictates otherwise. The term “based on” is not exclusive andallows for being based on additional factors not described, unless thecontext clearly dictates otherwise. In addition, throughout thespecification, the meaning of “a,” “an,” and “the” include pluralreferences. The meaning of “in” includes “in” and “on.”

Briefly stated, embodiments of the invention are directed to using imagedata and contextual data to determine information about a scene. Thecontent information may be directly accessed and returned to a user, maybe used as search terms, as input to other processes, or used for otherpurposes. Captured image data, prior image analysis data, profile data,and other data that has been collected from numerous users, are used tobetter determine the subject matter of the captured image andinformation most likely desired by a user. Rather than relying on highresolution images and complex image processing techniques, thecollection of various forms of data related to images and locations areused as community-based recognition.

Image data may comprise one or more images near a same location. Theimages may be taken by many different users with different cameras orother devices. The image(s) may include non-text information, such aslogos, landmarks, or the like. In addition, or alternatively, theimage(s) may include text information, such as character strings on asign, a billboard, or the like. Contextual data may include the locationwhere each image was taken, a user profile associated with a mobiledevice that took one or more of the images, or the like. In addition, oralternatively, contextual data may include information known about thelocation, such as merchants, buildings, street names, information aboutactions performed by one or more users near the location, or the like.An image may be analyzed to determine a histogram, identifyingcharacteristics of the image. Some object recognition may be performedif image resolution permits. An image may also be analyzed to locate andrecognize characters within the image. The image analyses may beevaluated relative to the analyses of other images by the same userand/or by other users to determine likely contents of an image.Similarly, contextual data may be evaluated to determine or revise thelikely contents of the image and/or the likely information desired aboutan image. In one embodiment, determined, or recognized key words,categories, or other information may be submitted to a data searchsystem to retrieve search results, web pages from specificallyrecognized uniform resource locators (URLs), phone directoryinformation, advertisements, or other results. In addition, oralternatively, the results may be filtered, prioritized, categorized, orotherwise further processed.

Embodiments of this invention identify a meaning of an object that auser has photographed, and use this meaning as a request for moreinformation. Conventionally image evaluation is done usingimage-recognition algorithms, embedded codes, or bar codes. Often theseimage cues are not reliable, the image quality is too low, and whereimage-recognition algorithms alone can not provide a desired level ofaccuracy. With enough contextual information, based on known objectlocations, the results of previous searches, or the like, embodiments ofthe invention can quickly decide that a user has taken a picture of abillboard advertising a recent action film or other specificinformation. Embodiments of the invention can show the user a customdisplay showing more information about the subject of the image, such asthe recent film. The additional information may include the location andtime of the nearest showing, and/or other information.

Embodiments of the invention use as much auxiliary information aspossible to discern what the user is looking at in the image. This extrainformation is generally referred to herein as context or contextualinformation. The context generally includes the location of the camera,when the photo was taken, the time, the probability that other userstook pictures at this location, the contents of other pictures (some ofwhich may have been taken with higher-resolution cameras), informationthe user has looked for previously, the likelihood that different usersselected information of a certain kind given the same context, the knownlocation of objects near this location, and the like.

Context may be used in many different ways. The context may be used tobias a search towards objects that are likely to be present in thepicture taken by the user. A centralized server may receive alow-quality image from a user and perform image-matching, usingalgorithms such as locality-sensitive hashing, to find a better qualityimage of the same object in the same location. Because the serverreceived the better image in the past, the server already analyzed thebetter image. The information obtained by this prior analysis of thebetter image may have led the prior user to click on a resulting link,or perform another action that the server tracked. Thus, the servergenerally has more contextual information about likely desiredinformation about the subject of the image. The contextual informationcan also be encoded with probabilistic models, which provides additionalcontext about the subject of images. For example, the probability ofseeing a Starbucks storefront might be higher in urban areas. As anotherexample, location and other context may be used to recognize uniquecommunity information such as language characters. For instance, Chinesecharacters are mostly likely to be seen in a small number of locationsin the United States. Based on a user's location, a server may focusefforts on recognizing the most likely characters in the language thatis known to be prevalent in the area of a new image.

The work to analyze an image can also be distributed throughout anetwork, just as the context information may be distributed. A digitalfingerprint for an image may be determined with a low-complexityalgorithm that can be computed with minimal CPU power, such as a user'smobile device. The digital fingerprint and the user's location may besent to a server to see if this image has already been received by theserver. If that image was previously received by the server, analysisresults for that image can be returned immediately, with minimal cost ofre-analysis and minimal communications charges. While that networktransaction is in process, the user's mobile device can do initialfeature extraction and compression on the image in preparation forsending it to the server for more detailed analysis if needed. Theprocess can start with simple image matching, proceed to moresophisticated algorithms, perform optical character recognition (OCR) todetermine any text in the image, ask the user to input information aboutthe image, or progress to other analysis. Some embodiments of theinvention use as much context and image information as possible tonarrow down user information request, and deliver relevant content.Previously tracked user behavior information can also be used todetermine the most likely content of an image, and/or the most likelyinformation desired by the user. The analysis may occur with just onebutton click, i.e., the click of the camera shutter. Additional detailsare provided below in the discussion of example embodiments.

Illustrative Operating Environment

FIG. 1 illustrates one embodiment of an environment in which the presentinvention may operate. However, not all of these components may berequired to practice the invention, and variations in the arrangementand type of the components may be made without departing from the spiritor scope of the invention.

As shown in the figure, system 100 includes client devices 102-104,network 105, and a server 106. Network 105 is in communication with andenables communication between each of client devices 102-104, and server106.

Client devices 102-104 may include virtually any computing devicecapable of receiving and sending a message over a network, such asnetwork 105, to and from another computing device, such as server 106,each other, and the like. The set of such devices may include devicesthat typically connect using a wireless communications medium such ascell phones, smart phones, pagers, walkie talkies, radio frequency (RF)devices, infrared (IR) devices, CBs, integrated devices combining one ormore of the preceding devices, or virtually any mobile device, and thelike. Similarly, client devices 102-104 may be any device that iscapable of connecting using a wired or wireless communication mediumsuch as a personal digital assistant (PDA), pocket PC, wearablecomputer, and any other device that is equipped to communicate over awired and/or wireless communication medium. The set of such devices mayalso include devices that typically connect using a wired communicationsmedium such as personal computers, multiprocessor systems,microprocessor-based or programmable consumer electronics, network PCs,and the like.

Each client device within client devices 102-104 may include a browserapplication that is configured to send, receive, and display web pages,and the like. The browser application may be configured to receive anddisplay graphics, text, multimedia, and the like, employing virtuallyany web based language, including, but not limited to StandardGeneralized Markup Language (SMGL), such as HyperText Markup Language(HTML), extensible markup language (XML), a Handheld Device MarkupLanguage (HDML), such as Wireless Markup Language (WML), WMLScript,JavaScript, and the like. Client devices 102-104 may further include amessaging application configured to send and/or receive a messageto/from another computing device employing another mechanism, including,but not limited to instant messaging (IM), email, Short Message Service(SMS), Multimedia Message Service (MMS), internet relay chat (IRC),mIRC, Jabber, and the like.

Network 105 is configured to couple one computing device to anothercomputing device to enable them to communicate. Network 105 is enabledto employ any form of computer readable media for communicatinginformation from one electronic device to another. Also, network 105 mayinclude a wireless interface, and/or a wired interface, such as theInternet, in addition to local area networks (LANs), wide area networks(WANs), direct connections, such as through a universal serial bus (USB)port, other forms of computer-readable media, or any combinationthereof. On an interconnected set of LANs, including those based ondiffering architectures and protocols, a router acts as a link betweenLANs, enabling messages to be sent from one to another. Also,communication links within LANs typically include twisted wire pair orcoaxial cable, while communication links between networks may utilizeanalog telephone lines, full or fractional dedicated digital linesincluding T1, T2, T3, and T4, Digital Signal level 3 (DS3), OpticalCarrier 3 (OC3), OC12, OC48, Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM),Integrated Services Digital Networks (ISDNs), Digital Subscriber Lines(DSLs), wireless links including satellite links, or othercommunications links known to those skilled in the art. Furthermore,remote computers and other related electronic devices could be remotelyconnected to either LANs or WANs via a modem and temporary telephonelink. Network 105 is constructed for use with various communicationprotocols and technologies, including transmission controlprotocol/internet protocol (TCP/IP), user datagram protocol (UDP), awireless application protocol (WAP), global system for mobilecommunications (GSM), code division multiple access (CDMA), timedivision multiple access (TDMA), general packet radio service (GPRS),ultra wide band (UWB), IEEE 802.16 Worldwide Interoperability forMicrowave Access (WiMax), and the like. In essence, network 105 includesany communication method by which information may travel between clientdevices 102-104, and/or server 106.

The media used to transmit information in communication links asdescribed above generally includes any media that can be accessed by acomputing device. Computer-readable media may include computer storagemedia, wired and wireless communication media, or any combinationthereof. Additionally, computer-readable media typically embodiescomputer-readable instructions, data structures, program modules, orother data. Such data can be communicated through communication media ina modulated data signal such as a carrier wave, data signal, or othertransport mechanism and includes any information delivery media. Theterms “modulated data signal,” and “carrier-wave signal” includes asignal that has one or more of its characteristics set or changed insuch a manner as to encode information, instructions, data, and thelike, in the signal. By way of example, communication media includeswireless media such as fluids or space for acoustic, RF, infrared, andother wireless signals, and wired media such as twisted pair, coaxialcable, fiber optics, wave guides, and other wired media.

Server 106 may comprise multiple computing devices or a single computingdevice. Server 106 may provide image analysis services, such asdetermining histograms, performing OCR, comparing images to previouslystored images, determining information about images, performing databaseoperations, performing searches for additional information, storinginformation about images, tracking user behaviors, or the like. Server106 may also provide content and/or other services such as web sites,online journals (e.g., blogs), photos, reviews, online services such asmessaging, search, news, shopping, advertising, and/or the like. Server106 may further provide administrative services, such as creation,modification, and management of relationships between network resources,such as web pages, or the like. Briefly, server 106 may include anycomputing device capable of connecting to network 105 and may manageservices for a network user, such as a user of at least one of clientdevices 102-104. Devices that may operate as server 106 includededicated server devices, personal computers, desktop computers,multiprocessor systems, microprocessor-based or programmable consumerelectronics, network PCs, and the like. Server 106 and/or any of clients102-104 may be implemented on one or more computing devices, such as aclient described with regard to FIG. 2.

Illustrative Client Device

FIG. 2 shows an exemplary client device 200, according to one embodimentof the invention for use as a reference data collector device. In oneembodiment, client device 200 is a mobile device, such as a laptopcomputer. Another example of a mobile device includes a PDA or acellular telephone that is arranged to send and receive voicecommunications and messages such as SMS messages via one or morewireless communication interfaces. Oftentimes, mobile electronic deviceswill be capable of personal communication by connecting to one or morewireless networks, connecting to multiple nodes of a single wirelessnetwork, communicating over one or more channels to one or morenetworks, or otherwise engaging in one or more communication sessions.Generally, client device 200 may comprise any mobile or stationaryelectronic device. Such devices include laptops, palmtops, PDAs,handheld computers, cellular telephones, smart phones, pagers, radiofrequency (RF) devices, infrared (IR) devices, integrated devicescombining one or more of the preceding devices, and the like. Clientdevice 200 may also comprise other electronic devices such as personalcomputers, multiprocessor systems, microprocessor-based or programmableconsumer electronics, network PCs, wearable computers, and the like.

Client device 200 may include many more, or fewer, components than thoseshown in FIG. 2. However, the components shown are sufficient todisclose an illustrative embodiment for practicing the presentinvention. As shown in the figure, client device 200 includes aprocessing unit 222 in communication with a mass memory 230 via a bus224.

Mass memory 230 includes a RAM 232, a ROM 234, and other storage means.Mass memory 230 illustrates another example of computer storage mediafor storage of information such as computer readable instructions, datastructures, program modules or other data. Mass memory 230 stores abasic input/output system (“BIOS”) 240 for controlling low-leveloperation of client device 200. The mass memory also stores an operatingsystem 241 for controlling the operation of client device 200. It willbe appreciated that this component may include a general purposeoperating system such as a version of Windows®, UNIX, or LINUX®, or aspecialized mobile communication operating system such as WindowsMobile™, the Symbian® operating system, or the like. The operatingsystem may include, or interface with a Java® virtual machine modulethat enables control of hardware components and/or operating systemoperations via Java application programs.

Memory 230 further includes one or more data storage units 242, whichcan be utilized by client device 200 to store, among other things,programs 244 and/or other data. Programs 244 may include computerexecutable instructions which, when executed by client device 200,transmit, receive, render, and/or otherwise process markup pages such asHTML pages, XML pages, WAP pages (sometimes referred to as WAP cards),and the like. Accordingly, programs 244 may include a browser program ofcomputer executable instructions, which may be run under control ofoperating system 241 to enable and manage requesting, receiving, andrendering markup pages and messages (e.g., HTTP, TCP/IP, SMS, MMS, IM,email, and/or other messages), audio, video, and enabletelecommunication with another user of another client device. Otherexamples of application programs include calendars, contact managers,task managers, transcoders, database programs, word processing programs,spreadsheet programs, games, and so forth.

In addition, mass memory 230 stores an image handling module 246, whichmay be run as an external module under control of operating system 241,as a plug-in module within a browser, within a web page, or via anotherconfiguration. Image handling module 246 may perform initial processingor complete processing of image data, context information, user requestsfor image data, and other data related to images acquired or received bythe mobile device.

Client device 200 also includes a power supply 226, one or more wirelessinterfaces 250, an audio interface 252, a display 254, a keypad 256, anilluminator 258, an optional data capture module 259, an input/outputinterface 260, an optional haptic interface 262, and an optional globalpositioning systems (GPS) receiver 264. Power supply 226 provides powerto client device 200. A rechargeable or non-rechargeable battery may beused to provide power. The power may also be provided by an externalpower source, such as an AC adapter or a powered docking cradle thatsupplements and/or recharges a battery.

Client device 200 may optionally communicate with a base station, ordirectly with another client device. Wireless interface 250 includescircuitry for coupling client device 200 to one or more wirelessnetworks, and is constructed for use with one or more communicationprotocols and technologies including, but not limited to, TCP/IP, UDP,GSM, CDMA, TDMA, SMS, GPRS, WAP, UWB, IEEE 802.16 (WiMax), and the like.

Audio interface 252 is arranged to produce and/or receive audio signalssuch as the sound of a human voice, music, and the like. For example,audio interface 252 may be coupled to a speaker and microphone (notshown) to enable telecommunication with others and/or generate an audioacknowledgement for some action. Display 254 may be a liquid crystaldisplay (LCD), gas plasma, light emitting diode (LED), or any other typeof display used with a client device. Display 254 may also include atouch sensitive screen arranged to receive input from an object such asa stylus or a digit from a human hand.

Keypad 256 may comprise any input device arranged to receive input froma user. For example, keypad 256 may include a keyboard, a push buttonnumeric dial, or the like. Keypad 256 may also include command buttonsthat are associated with selecting and performing changeable processes.Illuminator 258 may provide a status indication and/or provide light.Illuminator 258 may remain active for specific periods of time or inresponse to events. For example, when illuminator 258 is active, it maybacklight the buttons on keypad 256 and stay on while the client deviceis powered. Also, illuminator 258 may backlight these buttons in variouspatterns when particular actions are performed, such as dialing anotherclient device. Illuminator 258 may also cause light sources positionedwithin a transparent or translucent case of the mobile device toilluminate in response to actions. Illuminator 258 may further be usedas a flash for image capture. A data capture module 259, such as acamera, may be included in client device 200. The client device mayobtain images, video, temperature, pressure, or other data.

Client device 200 also comprises input/output interface 260 forcommunicating with external devices, such as a headset, or other inputor output devices not shown in FIG. 2. Input/output interface 260 canutilize one or more communication technologies, such as USB, infrared,Bluetooth™, and the like. Optional haptic interface 262 is arranged toprovide tactile feedback to a user of the client device. For example,the haptic interface may be employed to vibrate client device 200 in aparticular way when another user of a client device is calling.

Optional GPS transceiver 264 can determine the physical coordinates ofclient device 200 on the surface of the Earth, which typically outputs alocation as latitude and longitude values. GPS transceiver 264 can alsoemploy other geo-positioning mechanisms, including, but not limited to,triangulation, assisted GPS (AGPS), Enhanced Observed Time Difference(E-OTD), cell identifier (CI), service area identifier (SAI), enhancedtiming advance (ETA), base station subsystem (BSS), or the like, tofurther determine the physical location of client device 200 on thesurface of the Earth. It is understood that under different conditions,GPS transceiver 264 can determine a physical location within millimetersfor client device 200; and in other cases, the determined physicallocation may be less precise, such as within a meter or significantlygreater distances.

Illustrative Network Device

FIG. 3 shows one embodiment of a network device, according to oneembodiment of the invention. Network device 300 may include many more,or fewer, components than those shown. The components shown, however,are sufficient to disclose an illustrative embodiment for practicing theinvention. Network device 300 may represent, for example, server 106 oranother client device of FIG. 1. For example purposes, network device300 will be described as a server device.

As shown in the figure, server device 300 includes a processing unit 322in communication with a mass memory 330 via a bus 324. Mass memory 330generally includes a RAM 332, a ROM 334, and other storage means. Massmemory 330 illustrates a type of computer-readable media, namelycomputer storage media. Computer storage media may include volatile andnonvolatile, removable and non-removable media implemented in any methodor technology for storage of information such as computer readableinstructions, data structures, program modules or other data. Otherexamples of computer storage media include EEPROM, flash memory or othersemiconductor memory technology, CD-ROM, digital versatile disks (DVD)or other optical storage, magnetic cassettes, magnetic tape, magneticdisk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other mediumwhich can be used to store the desired information and which can beaccessed by a computing device.

Mass memory 330 stores a basic input/output system (“BIOS”) 340 forcontrolling low-level operation of server device 300. The mass memoryalso stores an operating system 341 for controlling the operation ofserver device 300. It will be appreciated that this component mayinclude a general purpose operating system such as a version of Windows,UNIX, LINUX, Solaris, or the like. The operating system may alsoinclude, or interface with a Java virtual machine module that enablescontrol of hardware components and/or operating system operations viaJava application programs.

Mass memory 330 further includes one or more data storage units 342,which can be utilized by server device 300 to store, among other things,programs 344 and/or other data. Programs 344 may include computerexecutable instructions which can be executed by server device 300 toimplement a markup handler application, such as an HTTP handlerapplication for transmitting, receiving, and otherwise processing HTTPcommunications, a WAP handler application for transmitting, receiving,and otherwise processing WAP communications, and the like. Similarly,programs 344 can include a secure socket layer (SSL) handler applicationfor handling secure connections, such as initiating communication withan external application in a secure fashion. Other examples ofapplication programs include content management applications, messagingapplications, schedulers, calendars, web services, transcoders, databaseprograms, word processing programs, spreadsheet programs, and so forth.Accordingly, programs 344 can process images, audio, video, or markuppages, enable telecommunication with another user of another electronicdevice, and/or other services.

In addition, mass memory 330 stores an image processing module 346.Image processing module 346 may include computer executableinstructions, which may be run under control of operating system 341 toanalyze images, compare images, determine context information, accessinformation associated with a location, evaluate user behavior data,determined search terms, or perform other processes related to images.In one embodiment, image processing module 346 generally communicateswith an image handling module on a client device. Mass memory 330 mayalso include a search module 348, which may be part of, or incommunication with image processing module 346. Search module 348 maycomprise a search engine that generally performs data searches, such ascontent searches, searches for links to network resources, databasesearches, or the like.

Server device 300 also includes an input/output interface 360 forcommunicating with input/output devices such as a keyboard, mouse,wheel, joy stick, rocker switches, keypad, printer, scanner, and/orother input devices not specifically shown in FIG. 3. A user of serverdevice 300 can use input/output devices to interact with a userinterface that may be separate or integrated with operating system 341,programs 344, and/or other modules. Interaction with the user interfaceincludes visual interaction via a display, and a video display adapter354.

Server device 300 may include a removable media drive 352 and/or apermanent media drive 353 for computer-readable storage media. Removablemedia drive 352 can comprise one or more of an optical disc drive, afloppy disk drive, and/or a tape drive. Permanent or removable storagemedia may include volatile, nonvolatile, removable, and non-removablemedia implemented in any method or technology for storage ofinformation, such as computer readable instructions, data structures,program modules, or other data. Examples of computer storage mediainclude a CD-ROM 355, digital versatile disks (DVD) or other opticalstorage, magnetic cassettes, magnetic tape, magnetic disk storage orother magnetic storage devices, RAM, ROM, EEPROM, flash memory or othermemory technology, or any other medium which can be used to store thedesired information and which can be accessed by a computing device.

Via a network communication interface unit 350, server device 300 cancommunicate with a wide area network such as the Internet, a local areanetwork, a wired telephone network, a cellular telephone network, orsome other communications network, such as network 105 in FIG. 1.Network communication interface unit 350 is sometimes known as atransceiver, transceiving device, network interface card (NIC), and thelike.

Illustrative Logic

FIG. 4 illustrates an example flow diagram 400 for processing aninformation request based on image data. In one example embodiment, aninformation request may be a search request for additional informationbased on data determined from an image. At an operation 402, one or moredata services establish one or more databases of contextual correlationdata, such as location related information, user related information,time related data, or other data that indicates a context of images orused to correlate images. Examples of context correlation informationmay include geographic location data, advertising information, merchantinformation, communication node information, weather information,traffic information, or other information. Geographic location data mayinclude GPS data, zip codes, street names, street addresses, buildingnames, landmarks, or the like. Advertising information may includelocations, content, and other information regarding billboards, paintedwall signs, street-level signs, storefront signs, or the like.Advertising information may also include non-commercial signage.Merchant information may include merchant names, addresses, phonenumbers, trademarks, logos, URLs, email addresses, products offered,inventory information, prices, or the like. Communication nodeinformation may include cellular tower locations, wifi hotspotlocations, network address information, communication capabilityinformation, or the like. Real-time data may also be maintained throughthe database(s) of location related information. For example, dataservices may provide current weather conditions, traffic conditions,event activities, or the like.

Similarly, in this embodiment, the data service(s) track clients' onlinebehaviors at an operation 404. Client user behaviors are generallyassociated with locations of the behaviors. With user permission, thedata service(s) may track messaging, searches performed, URLs selected,purchases made, or the like. The data service(s) may also determineother parameters related to the online behaviors. For example, a dataservice may determine that a number of client users know each otherbased on message exchanges, may determine interests that a client usermay have, or the like. A data service may also determine indirectrelationships that comprise a user's social network.

At an operation 406, a client user captures image data with a mobileclient device. The captured image data is generally associated with oneor more context correlation data elements, such as location and/or otherdata discussed above. For example the user may take a photograph of abillboard with a cellular phone. The image and/or location data may beassociated with a time stamp, a cell tower location, a wifi network nodeaddress, or other data. The billboard may include a merchant name, alogo, a phone number, a URL, or other content. The client device mayperform further processing locally, or may communicate the image and/orlocation data to a server. For example, the client device may be capableof performing some image histogram analysis, image fingerprintinganalysis, or the like. The client device may perform such analyses andcommunicate the results to the server. However, in many cases, clientdevices, such as cell phone, will have limited image processingcapability. Such devices will generally send raw or compressed imagedata and location data to the server.

At an optional operation 408, the server may receive a client identifierfor the client that captured the image, such as a phone number, a mobileidentification number, user identifier, or the like. The server may usethe client identifier to access previously stored information associatedwith the client identifier, such as prior images submitted, priorlocations submitted, client device capabilities, user behaviors,aggregated information related to the client identifier, or the like.The server, or the client device, may also receive other informationassociated with the location of the image. As discussed above, suchinformation may be pre-established location data or may includereal-time data related to the location. For example, the server mayaccess or receive merchant information that is associated with alocation that is near the image capture location. This merchantinformation may identify merchants and their distance from the imagecapture location. Similarly, the server may access or receive othercontext data related to the image capture location, such as a streetname, zip code, weather conditions, traffic conditions, or the like.

At an operation 410, the server or the client device analyzes thecaptured image to determine an image histogram. The image histogramgenerally identifies color parameters and other characteristics of theimage, so that images can be readily compared. In an idealizedsituation, where everybody took pictures with the same camera and at thesame location, then simple image comparison by comparing correspondingimage pixels would give an exact measure of whether the images are takenof the same object. But this kind of simple measure is generally notsufficient.

In a simple case, two images can be compared for similarity by computinga histogram of the colors found in the image. The metric used fordetermining whether two images are similar is just a matter of comparingthe fraction of pixels in each of (dozens) of different colors. Thismetric is useful because it generally works no matter how the camerasare rotated, and tends to be immune to scale and transformations. Forexample, it generally works well for determining which billboard isbeing seen, since the colors are unique between different companies. Itmay be less effective to determine which of several gray-stone bankbuildings one is standing in front of in a captured image.

More sophisticated approaches, such as those based on salient points,are generally more robust. In this approach, an operator is run acrossthe image that identifies points in the image that are especiallysalient, or that pop out no matter what the orientation. These are oftenimage features such as corners. Once the salient points are identifiedthey are characterized by any number of measures including color, localtexture, and orientation. Two images are generally judged to be similarif a high percentage of salient points in each image can be matched, andthey have the right alignment. Further details of example suchtechniques are described in “Object Recognition from LocalScale-Invariant Features,” by David G. Lowe.

At a decision operation 412, the server may check whether a previouslystored histogram (or salient points, etc.) matches a histogram (orsalient points, etc.) of the newly received image within a predefinedmatching threshold. In this example embodiment, the server selectshistogram data from prior received images, for comparison against thehistogram results of the captured image. To narrow down the number ofcomparisons, the server may select prior image analysis data based on acontext correlation element, such as a predefined radius from thelocation of the captured image. In one embodiment, the server may selecta “best” prior image, or a top number of highest resolution imageswithin a certain distance of the currently captured image. In addition,or alternatively, the server may use other criteria to filter,prioritize, or otherwise select prior histogram data. Other criteria mayinclude histogram characteristics within certain ranges of the capturedimage, resolution of images in various databases, only prior imageanalysis data that are associated with a certain set of user identifiersor mobile device identifiers, prior image analysis data that are withina certain number of known blocks of the image capture location, or thelike.

Once prior image analysis data is selected, the server compares theselected data against the image analysis results for the captured image.Another image may have a very similar image histogram, even though theother image may have different zoom, light, or other image parameters.For example, one image may capture a billboard from a certain distanceand at a certain time of day. Another image may capture the samebillboard from a different distance and at a different time of day. Theimage histogram of each image can be compared to determine whether theycapture the same billboard. Alternatively, a part of an image may have ahistogram that is very similar to the histogram of a part of anotherimage. The similar parts may be detected and compared. Similar parts maycorrespond to logos or other non-character symbols. Each histogram canfunction as a digital fingerprint to identify an image. Histograms thatare the same, or statistically within a predefined threshold, may beconsidered equivalent. These comparisons help identify the content ofthe image.

If user profile data is associated with the captured image and at leastone of the prior images, prior user profile data may also be selectedand compared with that of the currently captured image. This may helpresolve uncertainty about resolve possible logos, provide prior merchantinteraction information, or provide other additional context informationregarding the captured image.

In general, if a match is found, the server may accesses any of theabove, or other descriptive information, search terms, or otherinformation related to the prior images and/or information related tocontext correlation data used to relate to the captured image. In oneembodiment, the context correlation data is the location at which thecurrent and prior images were captured. In some embodiments, the servermay perform a search, perform other processing, and/or immediatelyreturn image content information, such as previously storedimage-related information and/or previously stored location-relatedinformation to the client device, at an operation 414. The image contentinformation may identify only contents of the image or may compriseinformation about the contents of the image. In some embodiments, theserver may end its image processing operations at this point, or maycontinue with further processing, as shown, to obtain additionalimage-related information and/or location-related information.

Similar to the histogram evaluation, at an operation 416, the server orthe client device may perform an optical character recognition (OCR)analysis to identify characters within the image. In this embodiment,the server optically recognizes characters that appear in a capturedimage of a scene. Such images are generally photographs rather thansimple black and white pages, so more involved techniques, such as thoseused for video OCR are useful. One process consists of two steps:detection and recognition. Detection generally identifies likely regionsof the image that include textures with the statistical behavior thatindicates it could be text. For example, western alphabets have manyhorizontal and vertical lines in close proximity. Once likely regionsare identified, pattern recognition methods, perhaps with a languagemodel to constrain the possible words, are used to determine the mostlikely text. Details of example techniques for OCR is described in“Feature Extraction Approaches For Optical Character Recognition,” byRoman Yampolskiy, including a chapter by Rainer Lienhart.

At a decision operation 418 of this embodiment, the server selects OCRdata from prior received images, for comparison against the OCR resultsof the captured image. Similar to the histogram analysis, the server mayselect prior image analysis data based on context correlation data suchas a predefined radius from the location of the captured image. In oneembodiment, the server may select a “best” prior image, or a top numberof highest resolution images within a certain distance of the currentlycaptured image. In addition, or alternatively, the server may use othercriteria to filter, prioritize, or otherwise select prior OCR data.Other criteria may include resolution of images in various databases, aminimum required number of words similar to those of the OCR results,only prior image analysis data that are associated with a certain set ofuser identifiers or mobile device identifiers, prior image analysis datathat are within a certain number of known blocks of the image capturelocation, or the like.

Once prior OCR image analysis data is selected, the server compares theselected data against the image analysis results for the captured image.Recognized characters can be compared to determine matching words, URLs,phone numbers, or the like. A match may be based on a predefinedmatching threshold. For example, a predefined percentage of characterstrings may be required to match, to conclude that a match existsbetween the captured image and a previously obtained image. These OCRcomparisons may independently help identify the content of the image, ormay be used in conjunction with the histogram comparisons.

Also similar to the histogram analysis, if user profile data isassociated with the captured image and at least one of the prior OCRimages, prior user profile data may also be selected and compared withthat of the currently captured image. This may help resolve uncertaintyabout partially recognized characters or strings, resolve uncertaintybased on possible logos, provide prior merchant interaction information,or provide other additional context information regarding the capturedimage.

In general, if a match is found, the server may accesses any of theabove, or other descriptive information, search terms, or otherinformation related to prior images and/or information related to thelocation at which the current and prior images were captured. In someembodiments, the server may perform a search, perform other processing,and/or immediately return image content information, such as previouslystored image-related and/or previously stored location-relatedinformation to the client device, at an operation 420. In someembodiments, the server may end its image processing operations at thispoint, or may continue with further processing, as shown, to obtainadditional image-related information and/or location-relatedinformation, determine image-related information and/or locationinformation that is likely desired by the client user, perform a search,or perform other operations.

In this example embodiment, the server uses the information obtainedthrough histogram and OCR analyses to perform one or more selectable orautomatic operations with the image-related information and/or thelocation-related information, at an operation 422. Such operations mayinclude performing statistical analysis to determine likely content,search terms, or other image-related information of the currentlycaptured image. The server may combine information gathered across allinformation sources, such as image, location, nearby points of interestfrom the database, click-through data from this and other users, or thelike. The server may also make a decision if there is conflicting orambiguous information. The server may access data services, returnlinks, request additional user input, or other operations. In oneembodiment, the server performs a search, as described in more detailwith regard to FIG. 5.

At an operation 424, the server stores location information, histograminformation, OCR information, operation results, or other data. Thestored information is generally indexed to the captured image, so thatthe stored information can be used to evaluate a subsequent capturedimage.

FIG. 5 illustrates a flow chart of example logic for determining searchterms and results based on a captured image. In some embodiments, imagecontent or user-desired information may be identified by likely searchterms within, or based on the currently captured image data and similarimage data. The terms may include the recognized characters, matchingstrings, matching histogram characteristics, manually pre-populatedterms, the location of the captured image, or the like. The histogramdata of the captured image may be used as search input to otherhistogram data bases or other image data bases. Some embodiments may useweighting to determine primarily phone numbers, or URLs, or merchantnames, or other preferred terms within, or based on the currentlycaptured image. Other embodiments may use weighting to determineprimarily scientific terms, such as those in a laboratory, or art terms,such as those in a museum, or the like.

In this example embodiment to determine likely search terms based on theimage data, the server uses contextual image-related data to determinemore likely search terms, at an operation 502. User profile data,individual or aggregated behavior data, device identifier data, or othersuch data may be searched based on the image-related data. Thiscontextual data may also be used to weight the determination of finalsearch terms. For example, user profile data associated with thecaptured data may indicate that the user of the image capturing mobiledevice has often searched for movie information. Prior images near thesame location may also be associated with movie terms. Thus, recognizedcharacters and histogram data may likely correspond to a theaterbillboard, listing movies that are currently showing. Accordingly, theserver may determine search words, phrases, actor names, theater brands,or other terms that are related to movies.

Tracked location data may also be used to determine probability patternsrelative to search terms. Location data is generally combined with imagefeatures. Location estimates generally include one or more probabilityestimates. For example, an estimate may indicate the probability that animage is taken from a certain direction and a probably of distance. Thisgenerally forms a Gaussian bump in probability space at that point.Within this bump the server will generally know of some objects with aprobability that can be estimates from previous images and anygeographic information known to the server. For example, the server mayknow that there is a bank near the location of the captured image.Similarly, image classification work, or OCR can also have a probabilityassociated with it. Determining the subject of the captured image can beimproved by looking for a peak in a posterior probability estimate. Thismay be a multiplicative function of the known position probabilityestimates, the prior information known about the area near the capturedimage, and the image-recognition results. The server may also regularizethe calculation by assuming that the prior information does not go allthe way to zero, since a new building or a new billboard could be builtat anytime. For example, it is possible that a new common retail outletmay appear in a short time.

Based on the prior image analysis data, the prior images generally havesemantic terms associated with each prior image that may be used forsearch matching and other processing. For example, the terms associatedwith an image may identify a location of a specific landing page, aservice, or other network resource. The network resource may be providedby or sponsored by an advertiser, a merchant, or the like. In addition,or alternatively, the terms associated with an image may provide a keyto one or more search results pages. The search database(s) may belimited to, or include, databases of registered advertisers or merchantswho provided names, phone numbers, URLs, email addresses, locations, orother information regarding the advertisers' or merchants' billboards,signs, or other items that may be captured in images. The advertising ormerchant databases, or their contents, may be weighted, filtered,prioritized, or the like based on placement bids, premium servicecharges, or the like. Intermediate results may be obtained and used torefine search terms.

The server returns search terms that are relevant to the captured image.For example, the server may return a merchant name, phone number, andURL that is most likely the subject of the captured image. The servermay automatically obtain information based on the returned search terms,or may send the terms to the mobile device that captured the image. Theuser of the mobile device may decide whether to submit the returnedterms through a browser to a general search engine.

At an operation 504, the server, or another search engine, performs asearch based on the determined search terms or those determined searchterms that the user selected. One or more search iterations may beperformed, and/or multiple databases may be searched. In a resultsoperation 506, the server may return a WML page, an XHTML page, a textpage, an SMS message, or other information that may be indexed to theprior images. The returned page may be considered a home page about theobject captured in the image. Returning the home page may cause theserver to charge a fee to a merchant, advertiser, or other sponsor(s) ofthe home page. This may generate revenue on the basis of a cost perpicture, or cost per camera click.

The above specification, examples, and data provide a completedescription of the manufacture and use of the composition of theinvention. For example, the search process, or other operations, may beperformed based on only matching histogram information; or based only onmatching OCR data. As another example, captured audio data may beevaluated in a similar manner to determine search terms or resultinginformation. Similarly, captured video data may be evaluated in asimilar manner to determine search terms or resulting information. Thematching thresholds may also be adjusted as additional images areobtained near locations. Since many embodiments of the invention can bemade without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention, theinvention resides in the claims hereinafter appended.

What is claimed as new and desired to be protected by Letters Patentis:
 1. A method for accessing information, comprising: receiving imagedata representing an image captured by a mobile device; receivinglocation data indicating a location at which the image was captured bythe mobile device; determining image attribute information from theimage data; determining whether the image attribute information matchespreviously obtained attribute information within a predefined matchingthreshold, the previously obtained attribute information obtained frompreviously obtained image data representing a prior image capturedwithin a predefined distance from the location at which the image wascaptured by the mobile device; accessing image content information basedon the location data if the image attribute information matches thepreviously obtained attribute information within the predefined matchingthreshold, wherein the content information identifies content of theimage that is associated with the previously obtained image data andassociated with the location, and the previously obtained attribute andimage data further includes a plurality of profile data, contextualdata, and a plurality of captured image data from a plurality ofdifferent devices to enable a community-based image recognition;determining search terms that are relevant to the captured image basedon the image content information; and providing the determined searchterms to the mobile device for use by the mobile device in submitting asubsequent search using the determined search terms.
 2. The method ofclaim 1, wherein the image attribute information comprises a histogramof the image, and the previously obtained attribute informationcomprises a previously determined histogram of the prior image.
 3. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the image attribute information comprises acharacter determined from the image by optical character recognition,and the previously obtained attribute information comprises a previouslydetermined character of the prior image.
 4. The method of claim 1,further comprising accessing location-related information based on theimage content information if the image attribute information matches thepreviously obtained attribute information within the predefined matchingthreshold, wherein the location-related information is associated withthe previously obtained image data and associated with the location. 5.The method of claim 1, wherein the image content information comprisesan identifier of merchant information.
 6. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising: receiving a mobile device identifier of the mobile device;accessing profile information associated with the mobile deviceidentifier; and selecting a portion of the image content informationbased on the profile information.
 7. The method of claim 6, wherein theprofile information includes user behavior information associated with auser of the mobile device.
 8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:determining a priority level of each of a plurality of prior imagescaptured within the predefined distance; and selecting the previouslyobtained attribute information based on a determined priority level ofthe prior image represented by the previously obtained image data. 9.The method of claim 1, further comprising returning the image contentinformation to the mobile device.
 10. A non-transitory machine readablemedium holding instructions that cause an electronic device to perform aplurality of operations, including the steps of claim
 1. 11. A serverfor accessing information, comprising: a processor; a communicationinterface in communication with the processor and with a network; and amemory in communication with the processor and storing data andinstructions that cause the processor to a plurality of operations,including: receiving image data representing an image captured by amobile device in communication with the network; receiving location dataindicating a location at which the image was captured by the mobiledevice; determining image attribute information from the image data;determining whether the image attribute information matches previouslyobtained attribute information within a predefined matching threshold,the previously obtained attribute information obtained from previouslyobtained image data representing a prior image captured within apredefined distance from the location at which the image was captured bythe mobile device; accessing image content information from a data storebased on the location data if the image attribute information matchesthe previously obtained attribute information within the predefinedmatching threshold, wherein the content information identifies contentof the image that is associated with the previously obtained image dataand associated with the location, and the previously obtained attributeand image data further includes a plurality of profile data, contextualdata, and a plurality of captured image data from a plurality ofdifferent devices to enable a community-based image recognition;determining search terms that are relevant to the captured image basedon the image content information; and providing the determined searchterms to the mobile device for use by the mobile device in submitting asubsequent search using the determined search terms.
 12. The server ofclaim 11, wherein the image attribute information comprises at least oneof the following: a histogram of the image, and wherein the previouslyobtained attribute information comprises a previously determinedhistogram of the prior image; and a character determined from the imageby optical character recognition, and wherein the previously obtainedattribute information comprises a previously determined character of theprior image.
 13. The server of claim 11, wherein the instructionsfurther cause the processor to perform the operations of: performing another data search based on the search terms and providing the results ofthe other search to the mobile device.
 14. The server of claim 11,wherein the instructions further cause the processor to perform theoperations of: receiving a mobile device identifier of the mobiledevice; accessing profile information associated with the mobile deviceidentifier, wherein the profile information includes user behaviorinformation associated with a user of the mobile device; and selecting aportion of the image content information based on the profileinformation.
 15. A method for accessing information, comprising:capturing an image with an imaging device for a mobile device;determining a location of the imaging device; creating image data fromthe image; determining image attribute information from the image data;transmitting the image attribute information through a network interfaceto a data server, wherein the image attribute information is transmittedwith a request to determine whether the image attribute informationmatches previously obtained attribute information within a predefinedmatching threshold, the previously obtained attribute informationobtained from previously obtained image data representing a prior imagecaptured within a predefined distance from the location at which theimage was captured by the mobile device; receiving image contentinformation based on the location data if the image attributeinformation matches the previously obtained attribute information withinthe predefined matching threshold, wherein the content informationidentifies content of the image that is associated with the previouslyobtained image data and associated with the location, and the previouslyobtained attribute and image data further includes a plurality ofprofile data, contextual data, and a plurality of captured image datafrom a plurality of different devices to enable a community-based imagerecognition; determining search terms that are relevant to the capturedimage based on the image content information; and providing thedetermined search terms to the mobile device for use by the mobiledevice in submitting a subsequent search using the determined searchterms.
 16. The method of claim 15, further comprising transmitting asearch request to a search engine, wherein the search request includesat least a portion of the image content information.
 17. A networkdevice for providing access to information, comprising: a processor; acommunication interface in communication with the processor and with anetwork; an image processing component in communication with theprocessor; a location detector in communication with the processor; anoutput component in communication with the processor; and a memory incommunication with the processor and storing data and instructions thatcause the processor to a plurality of operations, including: causing theimage processing component to capture an image for a mobile device;causing the location detector to determine a location at which the imagewas captured; creating image data from the image; determining imageattribute information from the image data; transmitting the imageattribute information through the communication interface to a dataserver, wherein the image attribute information is transmitted with arequest to determine whether the image attribute information matchespreviously obtained attribute information within a predefined matchingthreshold, the previously obtained attribute information obtained frompreviously obtained image data representing a prior image capturedwithin a predefined distance from the location at which the image wascaptured by the mobile device; receiving image content information basedon the location data if the image attribute information matches thepreviously obtained attribute information within the predefined matchingthreshold, wherein the content information identifies content of theimage that is associated with the previously obtained image data andassociated with the location, and the previously obtained attribute andimage data further includes a plurality of profile data, contextualdata, and a plurality of captured image data from a plurality ofdifferent devices to enable a community-based image recognition;determining search terms that are relevant to the captured image basedon the image content information; and providing the determined searchterms to the mobile device for use by the mobile device in submitting asubsequent search using the determined search terms.
 18. The networkdevice of claim 17, wherein the network device comprises a mobiledevice.